


Recklessly

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: Coven Apocalypse AU [2]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Arguing, Companion Piece, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, Implied Foxxay, Missing Scene, Physical Healing, To heal not to hurt, tw needles, zadison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23818501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Madison is very mad at Zoe for being so reckless. Zoe is mad at Madison for being selfish. Neither of them seem to understand the other. But that's okay, they make it work anyway.
Relationships: Misty Day/Cordelia Foxx | Cordelia Goode, Zoe Benson/Madison Montgomery
Series: Coven Apocalypse AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716142
Kudos: 38





	Recklessly

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note for people who might stumble upon this story without having read the first one: this is a companion piece to "Don't They Know It's the End of the World", and you will not understand a damn thing to this story if you don't read the other one first. I mean you can try, but I don't think you will.  
> Beside that, I hope you enjoy!

Zoe was pulled back to reality by prickling pain in her arm. She forced her eyes open. She was inside, laying on something comfortable. The couch in the library, she thought. Cordelia was seating beside her, focused on something. Zoe frowned when the pain returned, then disappeared, then returned again. A glance toward her arm told her why. A needle was passing through her skin, back and forth, suturing the hole in her arm close.

  
Zoe felt light-headed at the sight. She blinked back tears of pain. Her vision settled on Madison, who was hovering above Cordelia, then stepping back, then looking at Zoe. Their eyes met. Madison seemed shocked to see Zoe awake. Then, the surprise in her eyes was replaced by absolute fury.

  
The pain in her arm worsened as Cordelia began to stitch the exit wound. The feeling to the needle piercing her flesh, of the string slipping past the barrier of her skin, and coming out on the other side made her dizzy. She tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat. Though she was already laying down, she felt the weight of her skull fall back, and she was knocked unconscious once again.

* * *

Zoe woke up with a start as if her soul had been thrown back into her body. She tried to sit up but groaned instead. Her right arm was tightly bandaged. A needle was stuck into her forearm, attached to a red tube. Following the tube, her eyes fell on Madison, who was seated in a chair by her side. Madison was staring at her.

  
"You're awake," Madison said dully.

  
She looked at the borrowed watch on her wrist.

  
"We have to stay like that for another ten minutes."

  
Zoe remained silent. She let her head fall back on the couch and watched the red plastic tube connecting Madison to her. It was so consistently red that Zoe wondered if the blood really flowed from the shorter blonde to her, or if it was simply stuck in the tube.

  
"Madison, I..."

  
Madison cut her off.

  
"I don't care," she said with irritation.

  
Zoe sighed and started looking at the ceiling. Like everything in the house, it was white, and staring at it for more than a minute created ghost images over her eyes. Zoe blinked to try and make them go away, but they wouldn't. Eventually, she turned her head to look at Madison again.

  
"Maddie, I just wanted to say..."

  
Madison clicked her tongue with annoyance.

  
"I said I don't care. I know you're trying to apologize but I don't care."

  
Then, under her breath, she muttered.

  
"I wish you hadn't woken up..."

  
Zoe, who still heard every syllable, frowned.

  
"Why would you say that?"

  
"Cause I don't want to talk to you right now."

  
Zoe rolled her eyes in annoyance. She pushed herself up using mostly her good arm and sat up.

  
"And why is that? Come on, say it!"

  
"Because once again you did what you wanted to do, without giving two shits about everyone else!" Madison shouted back.

  
Zoe laughed bitterly.

  
"I think you're thinking about you. Cause you know what I did today? I brought back enough supplies to save everyone from starvation! What did you do today?"

  
Madison sat up suddenly.

  
"You know what? If you're such a hero, you don't need my fucking blood!"

  
Madison was about to pull the needle out of her arm when Zoe shouted:

  
"You dare to call me selfish when you're the one always thinking about yourself! I know for a fact that if they'd asked for your help you would have said no!"

  
"Of course I would have said no!" Madison shouted back. "Because I'm not fucking suicidal! Plus, they need me here to protect everyone, which you should have been doing too! But you were too busy being a fucking hero for that, right?"

  
"You think you're so fucking important!"

  
"I am! I fucking am!"

  
"See? This is what I mean! You're always thinking about yourself first and the others after!"

  
"Well someone has to, cause you certainly don't..."

  
Zoe cut Madison off, standing up abruptly.

  
"You think I wasn't thinking about you? I was thinking about you every fucking second today! I did it for you!"

  
Zoe's voice caught in her throat as her head began to spin. She fell back against the couch. Thousands of tiny black dots began to dance in front of her eyes, and her brain felt heavy. The next second, Madison was by her side.

  
"Wow, hey..."

  
She helped Zoe settle down against the couch once again, and waited by her side until the glassy look in her eyes disappeared. When Zoe's vision stabilized again, she saw Madison crouching by her side. Their eyes met. All the anger in them had disappeared. It was replaced by something Zoe had rarely seen, always a shadow she thought she'd imagined. Almost as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

  
"Don't die on me," Madison said as she sat back in the chair.

  
Zoe gave a short nod and started looking at the ceiling again.

* * *

As soon as the ten minutes had passed, Madison took the needle out of her arm, then Zoe's. She followed the recommendations Cordelia had given her, applying a bandage over the tiny hole left in her arm. She left the room without another word. It wasn't dinner time yet, so she picked up her assault rifle and walked around the perimeter again, just to buy some time.

  
When she returned the first sitting was finishing their pasta. She waited impatiently in the living room for her turn. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she also didn't want to see Zoe, so dinner felt like a good way to delay the inevitable. No one dared to approach her, so she was left alone with her thoughts. When the third sitting was finally kicked out of the table, she sat up and walked with purpose to the table. It felt rather empty that evening. With Mallory, Misty, Coco, and Zoe deprived of dinner, and Cordelia still locked in her bedroom, they were five around the large table.

  
"No one's gonna go get Cordie?" Madison asked with a glance at Cordelia's empty seat.

  
"She looked pretty tired after fixing Zoe," Queenie said. "I think she's asleep already."

  
Madison shrugged and didn't push the subject further. Dinner was silent for the most part. The scavenging team could have died that day and the result would have been the same. Every time Madison glanced at Zoe's empty chair she had to remind herself that the taller brunette was in the library, hopefully sleeping.

  
After dinner, Madison picked up her assault rifle and did another round, just to kill more time. When she came back, it was almost nine, and the last rays of the sun lit the sky with pink hues. She had nothing left to do, and she didn't want to stay in the living room to watch the other girls play some boring board games. With no other choice, she stepped into the library.

  
Zoe was still laying on the couch, her wounded arm lying limply by her side. With her other arm, she was holding a book open. Madison rolled her eyes at the sight.

  
"You're supposed to be resting."

  
"I didn't feel like sleeping," Zoe replied.

  
Madison took the book out of Zoe's hand and closed it off without bothering to put a bookmark. Zoe protested but Madison didn't listen.

  
"Come on, get up. I have to open the damn thing."

  
Zoe frowned.

  
"I thought..."

  
"What? You thought I was going to let you kick me out of my room?"

  
Zoe didn't answer. She carefully stood up, glad to see that her brain wasn't spinning anymore. Madison pushed the armchair away and opened the pull-out couch. Both girls picked up their pajamas from under their pillows, all of which had been hidden in the couch. Madison was quick to take her dress off and change into a light silk shirt. When she turned to Zoe, she found the taller girl was struggling to take off her tee-shirt. Madison rolled her eyes but came to help her anyway. Zoe gave her a small smile and whispered:

  
"Thanks."

  
Madison nodded curtly and moved to turn off the light. Zoe struggled to put on her pajama shirt, mindful of her wounded arm. Madison slid into bed, her back to Zoe. She felt Zoe sliding into bed behind her, felt her back brush hers. Madison forced her eyes closed, thinking she wouldn't be able to fall asleep so early. Behind her, she felt Zoe shifting position. Still, she didn't try to look at her and kept her eyes shut.

* * *

Zoe woke up with a dry throat, her body screaming for water. She was on her back, looking up at the dark ceiling. Madison still had her back to her. The regular fall and rise of her shoulders told Zoe that she was deep in sleep. Ignoring the way her muscles complained, Zoe pushed herself out of bed and went to the kitchen.

  
The house was silent. Zoe walked past Cordelia's bedroom and she thought she heard speaking, but she didn't give it much thought and continued to the kitchen. She tried to reach for a glass and winced, then remembered to use her left hand to do it. She filled the glass carefully. The cold water left a stinging feeling on the cut on her lower lip. Still, it seemed to bring her throat back to life. She poured herself another glass.

  
The sound of bare footsteps caught her attention. A lone figure made her way out of the shadows of the corridor, and into the moonlight of the kitchen. Cordelia came to stand beside her and grabbed a glass.

  
"You shouldn't be out of bed," Cordelia said.

  
"I know," Zoe replied. "But Maddie was asleep and I didn't want to wake her up."

  
Cordelia drank half of her glass, then filled it up again.

  
"Don't pull your stitches," she warned.

  
"I won't," Zoe said as if it were obvious.

  
"I mean it. Don't come knocking on my door if you start bleeding again."

  
Zoe rolled her eyes.

  
"I won't pull my stitches."

  
She paused, sipping the water out of her glass.

  
"How the fuck would I even do that?"

  
"You know how."

  
Zoe clicked her tongue with annoyance.

  
"Well, I won't. She's still mad at me," she added, looking at the dark corridor rather than Cordelia.

  
"She has every reason to be. I'm still mad at you too. It's a good thing you're wounded, it'll give me an excuse to keep you on camera duty until you're fully healed."

  
Her head snapped toward Cordelia.

  
"Seriously?"

  
"Yes, seriously. Next time you'll think before agreeing to follow a stupid plan."

  
Zoe found she had nothing else to say. She took another swig of water, then emptied the rest of her glass in the sink, cleaned it up quickly and placed it on the rack to dry. As she began to walk away she finally found what she wanted to say:

  
"It wasn't a stupid plan. We saved everyone from starvation."

  
"I know," Cordelia replied. "Thank you."

  
Zoe paused for a second, then continued to walk back to the library. She closed the door silently behind her. Madison was still on her side. A small smile passed over Zoe's lips. She wanted to give her a goodnight kiss. She refrained, simply sliding into bed again, keeping her back to Madison.

  
There was shifting in the bed, and Madison rolled until she found Zoe. Zoe was surprised to feel Madison wrapping her arms around her.

  
"Where did you go?" Madison asked sleepily, to the point that Zoe wondered if she wasn't sleep-talking.

  
"I just went to get some water."

  
Madison hummed against her back, pulling her closer.

  
"Don't go anywhere," Madison mumbled.

  
Zoe smiled.

  
"I won't. I promise."

  
Just as quickly as she'd come to life, Madison fell asleep once again. Zoe placed a hand on Madison's and closed her eyes, letting sleep take her once again.

**Author's Note:**

> I found myself fascinated by Zoe and Madison's relationship, or at least the way I've come to represent it in my stories, with Madison being so afraid of emotions that she's basically caged-up her heart and Zoe being a stubborn idiot who won't admit to her feelings until Madison does because she doesn't want to give her the satisfaction. They're like two ostriches with their heads in the sand waiting for the other to look up first and I love them for that.


End file.
